Author's Choice Themes
by Chi Haku
Summary: Five themes of my choosing. Zukaang AangxZuko


**Smile**

Zuko loves Aang's smile. It is probably his favorite thing about his lover, more than his eyes, more than his tattoos, more than the gentle way he purrs Zuko's name nowadays. It was that damned smile that had drawn him to the Avatar in the first place, and now it was one of the many, many things keeping him by his side.

Aang had a lot of different smiles, and Zuko was proud to say he could identify each and every one.

There were his happy smiles, those were always around in great quantity. His smiles of amusement, sheepish smiles, smiles of love and caring. Then there were his sad smiles, the smiles he gave when he didn't want to admit he was hurting, and those smiles that meant whoever was getting that smile had ten second to run before they were squashed like a bug.

Of all of Aang's smiles, there was one Zuko liked best. It wasn't Aang's sated smile right after another wonderful round of lovemaking, it wasn't his cheeky smile that meant Zuko should be afraid for the safety of his ass, nor the teasing smile that meant Zuko would be begging that night. No, it wasn't even Aang's sexy smirk that always came out looking a little feral and meant oh yes he was most certainly going to be dominating tonight, not that he didn't every night, but you get the idea.

No, Zuko's favorite smile was small and soft, carefree and sweet, and meant that in fact, his lover was asleep. Yes, most often Aang smiled in his sleep, unless he was having a nightmare. When he was having a nightmare though, Zuko would pull him close and hold him gently until the nightmare passed.

Zuko had sworn long ago that he would find a way to make that smile his lover's true smile. One day, when the world was at peace, he would find some way to make it happen. He had not told Aang this, because while his lover had some notion that Zuko could see through him, he didn't know the extent to which he could.

When the final battle rolls around, the last smile Zuko sees before his lover kisses him and runs towards his fight with Ozai, is his determined smile. It's the smile that says, fuck it I'm coming home to you mark my words. That's the only reason Zuko doesn't lose it while fighting Azula and she taunts him about Aang being dead. Because even though he didn't say it, Aang meant he was coming home.

After that battle, right before Zuko is pulled into yet another kiss, this time in front of whole armies worth of people and his own father (take that you old psycho), he gets to see Aang's smirk. Aang's smirk says, see, what did I tell you? I knew I could do it. And Zuko knows it too, but that doesn't mean he's not tearing up as he kisses his lover back to the cat calls and wolf whistles of the crowd and his father's outraged yowl.

Months later, when all Fire Nation troops have officially been pulled from all countries where they SO don't belong, he gets to see Aang's tired, but triumphant smile. This he treasures and returns with his own pleased grin, which Aang takes as a cue to steal him away to their bedroom for a celebration.

But it wasn't until almost a year and a half later that Zuko would be gifted with the smile he wanted. Because a year and a half later the first new waterbender has been born in the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko is officially the most well liked Fire Lord in well over three centuries, and Aang deems Teo officially an airbender after the disabled teen blasted him across the room with a wave of wind. The world is finally righting itself and it's one night as they lay together, watching the stars outside their balcony window, that he sees it.

Aang probably doesn't know he's smiling any differently than usual, but Zuko does and it makes his breath catch in his throat. It is this, more than anything, that shows him that yes in fact, the world is now at peace. There is no need to worry any longer. No one can hurt you now. And it makes him drag Aang into a passionate kiss that turns into another round of amazing sex, in a world that Zuko can finally say is right again.

* * *

><p><strong>Damsel in Distress<strong>

Dragons, Aang decided, were the least of his problems at the given moment. Dragons he liked. Dragons he loved, in fact. Dragons actually liked him and listened to him because he was the Avatar and therefore an incarnation of fire.

Gigantic acid spitting arachnids on the other hand, well, they just wanted to eat him for breakfast.

Oh yeah and apparently they were immune to all elements EVER. WHY?

Aang leapt aside as another shot of acid came at him from between the huge pincers of the spider's mouth. He grit his teeth, landing on a tree branch and looking hastily around for his next move. Unfortunately, most of the surrounding area was now burned to the ground or disintegrated. ….Or destroyed some other way by him. Sadly.

So basically, he was pretty much screwed and out in the open once this tree went down. Which was great you know, he'd always wanted to get fried alive and munched on for months.

*Why the HELL am I even HERE?* he thought desperately. *Damn you Roku and your freaking riddles!*

To fully understand what is going on, let us return to about two days prior in an abbey somewhere just off the coast. It was a beautiful place, and a safe haven for those wishing to escape the war outside its walls. Here was where the mythical anomaly in the fabric of the universe, the Avatar, Aang, currently resided.

He lived there for two reasons, one, because it reminded him of his home back in the lands of the Wind, and two because there was where a certain medium by the name of Teo lived. Teo was a kind, happy young boy, who had been robbed of the ability to walk thanks to an unfortunate turn of events during the war.

However he retained remarkable psychic abilities, as well as a small but growing ability to control the air. In exchange to teaching him to manipulate this power, she acted as a channel between the Spirit and Human worlds for Aang. This was helpful, as for Aang it took much longer to slip from his mind to the Avatar Spirit's to the Spirit World and then find Roku, whereas Teo could simply call upon the past Avatar with a few words.

That being said, whenever Aang was not entirely sure what to do, or just overall bored, he generally went to Teo and asked for a few words from whichever Avatar had something to say. Rarely however, did Teo come to him, having heard from one of them. This was why two days ago Aang had legged it down to the crystalline antechamber where Teo communed best with the ethereal Avatar souls.

He'd arrived just in time to find Teo slipping into a trance, and a moment later there was Roku. His predecessor's words were never easy to understand, but this time they seemed to be particularly confusing, heaven's knew why. To repeat it would take a long time and be rather tedious, but the long and the short of it (from what Aang could gather) was something along these lines;

Head west until you're where you need to be going, you'll know when you get there so don't ask me where it is. Your real battle starts now after you face this challenge so suck it up. You're going to find something very important there. Good luck and don't die because it will be a hassle to reincarnate AGAIN. Roku out.

As one can assume; Not the easiest of instructions to follow.

So here Aang found himself, praying to all things holy this was his challenge because if he wasn't he was fricking SCREWED. And by screwed he meant he was going to get to his challenge and just keel over dead, forget whatever this important thing was that was all…important or whatever. Freaking Roku and his riddles. Why couldn't the man talk straight for once?

Aang leapt from the tree branch in time to dodge yet another shot of acid that came hurtling at him. It managed to hit the tree though and, sure enough, there went his last source of escape. Now he was confined to the ground, and technically the air if he could get himself high enough. But that didn't seem likely.

Aang seriously felt a bit like crying. Air wasn't working, this thing's exoskeleton was too strong, and neither was fire! Fire always worked against bug spirit…demon…things…it always worked was the point! But now it wasn't and Aang had a very bad feeling he was about to become the large arachnid's dinner.

*Okay. Okay, calm down Aang. It's just a spider. Just a really big, really hungry, really not wanting to die no matter how I attack it spider! Just an immortal bug! No. Big. Deal!* he thought frantically.

This time, Aang barely dodged the acid and it singed his cloak. He cried out in shock and quickly threw it from his shoulders, jumping away from the burning fabric.

*OKAY IT'S A BIG DEAL!*

Aang was quickly running out of options. Fire and air just flat out didn't work, and there was no water for at least a mile. His best bet was earth, even though he was still seriously shaky on the use of it. It was possibly more dangerous to attempt in such a volatile situation, than the volatile situation itself.

Still, he had run out of options, and quite frankly, death by giant rock sounded far more appealing than death by slowly being drained of your insides.

Aang clapped his hands together, skidding a halt in his running and slammed his palms flat on the ground. He felt the ground tremble beneath him and for a moment his eyes glowed green as the power of the earth flowed through him. Aang grit his teeth before clenching his fists and swiftly raising them, making a huge section of rocky dirt rise up. He swiveled until it was over the giant arachnids and then unclenched his fists.

*THIS BETTER WORK!*

The rock fell and Aang jumped back in time to dodge the bug guts that went squirting out as it was crushed. He was caught between being thankful he'd killed it and wondering why the hell its exoskeleton could deal with air and fire but not earth. Then he decided he didn't care about either because where the spider had been standing when he first arrived, there was a large cave entrance.

Aang had a pretty good intuition, thanks very much, and currently it was telling him that cave was his best bet at figuring out Roku's riddle or whatnot. So, without further ado, he picked himself up, brushed himself off, and walked towards the cave entrance.

Inside the cave, Aang was pretty sure the best way to describe the stench was "death". And it was everywhere, in smell, in sight, countless carcasses of animals and humans alike all over the ground, and in the dead silence. Aang grimaced, wishing suddenly he hadn't come in. But then, something caught his eye on the ground and he stooped down to pick it up.

As it turned out, it was an amber necklace. Not really fancy on first appearance, just a jewel on a chain, but when one held it up to the light they could see the amber and golden lock were of the highest quality. Aang wondered what in the name of holiness it was doing here, and why it looked so bloody familiar…

And then it struck him, quite out of the blue. He'd seen someone wearing this, this exact jewel, in one of Roku's memories. It had been… oh for the love of the wind who had it been? …Sozin's wife! Yes! He'd seen Sozin's wife wearing this, and that one time he'd seen the ancient Fire Lord's mother, her too! This was a Fire Kingdom jewel, more specifically the Fire Lady's!

But how had it gotten here….? From what Aang could recall, the Fire Lady of current time had gone missing shortly after her son turned seven, and then he'd disappeared as well three years ago. Where the jewel had been in between, he would have guessed the princess had it.

Unless the prince did.

Aang's eyes widened and he began frantically looking around the cave for some sign of anything that looked remotely like the description of the prince he had gotten from Teo upon first arrival in the abbey. The Fire Kingdom prince was practically legendary amongst the resistance. Not only had he stood up to his father, but he had run with his uncle to the White Lotus, and basically whipped the whole group into a proper organization.

Right about now, Aang would be very support-less and very screwed if it wasn't for the prince. So if he was in here, he needed to find him. Now.

Aang picked his way backwards further into the cave, climbing over countless dried out bodies. He decided to be optimistic and hope that the person he was looking for wasn't one of the bodies, so he didn't bother looking at them.

After what felt like an hour (but probably wasn't) Aang found himself face to face with the largest spider's web he'd ever seen. He just sort of stared momentarily, wondering if it was bad of him to think it was sort of magnificent. And then he saw the figure, shoulders to knees cocooned in silk threads, off to the corner of the web.

He was off like a rocket, and before he'd even reached the person's side his knife was out. Immediately he felt for a pulse, and when he found one, he grinned. Well at least someone in here was alive that had to be something, right? Though he didn't think this…girl…(?) was who he was looking for.

Or he assumed it was a girl, they had pretty long hair from what he could see.

He managed to cut the person away from the web, and put his knife away before picking them up, still bound in the silk threads. He couldn't see them well enough to cut without hurting the person in here, best to do it outside in the light.

A few moments later and he was cutting the boy (holy crap it WAS a boy!) from the silk and he was regaining consciousness.

There was a soft groan just as Aang tugged the last of the gauzy threads from his torso and he pushed himself up.

"Ow…fuck…" he hissed. "What the hell…?"

Aang was thinking about the same thing, only not for the same reasons. Excuse Aang while he has a total slightly fanboyish moment.

Whoever this boy was, he was gorgeous. His hair was long, about reaching almost halfway down his back, and while it started out shaggy, it grew straight as it went down. His skin was porcelain pale and his figure would easily be confused with a girl's if Aang hadn't felt the muscles himself when he was carrying him. His fingers were slender, another feminine trait, and his legs long, and from what Aang could see from the shirt which had been loosened by the threads and was falling off one shoulder, he was slender and pale all over.

In short, he was damn pretty, and Aang was one of those people who was easily attracted to pretty things.

Then of course, the boy raised his head and Aang had to work very hard to keep his expression concerned and not just gape at the almond shaped golden eyes staring at him. And yes, he had a rather horrid scar on one side of his face, but who cared? That didn't stop him from having high cheekbones or a perfectly sculpted face, or soft looking cherry lips.

"…Who are you…?" he asked, ducking his head to rub his eyes, probably not used to this much light. "And where are we?"

"We're outside that huge ass spider's cave." Aang said. "And don't worry it's dead."

The boy muttered a curse in a language Aang recognized as being from the Fire Kingdom.

"Good. Damn thing was immune to fire and caught me off guard." he said in a relatively affronted sounding voice.

His hand went to his neck, and for a moment he seemed to freeze. Aang remembered the necklace still in his hand and held it out.

"Here, this your's?"

The boy looked up, astonished, before snatching the necklace and instantly putting it around his neck with practiced ease. Aang had to admit, the amber suited him much better than he thought it would.

"I'm Aang." he supplied. "The Avatar, if that helps. You?"

The boy gave him a surprised look, then took his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake. Aang had been right in his assumptions, his skin was as soft as down, even though it was obvious he was a fighter. Some people were just born looking beautiful.

"Zuko." he said. "One of the leaders of the White Lotus, ex-prince of the Fire Kingdom. I suppose this isn't the best circumstances but I've been waiting to meet you for quite some time Avatar Aang."

Aang gave him a winning smile.

"Aang's fine, forget the Avatar part, too formal."

"…Alright then, Aang. Thank you for getting me out of there."

"No problem." Aang said, cheeky side taking over. "I always make it a point to save damsels in distress."

Zuko's cheeks flushed and Aang mentally cheered. He was cute when he was embarrassed too.

"I am NOT a damsel in distress!" he said indignantly.

"Oh yeah? And can you get out of here on your own?"

He opened his mouth to respond, then shut it and looked away.

"The spider venom paralyzes your body for ten days and then slowly starts to only paralyze parts as it fades. I still can't walk."

Aang laughed.

"See?" he chortled, picking Zuko up bridal style and making him yelp. "You are a damsel in distress."

And as much as Zuko tried to glare, it really didn't work when he was blushing.

* * *

><p><strong>Cliché<strong>

Valentine's Day, Aang decided, was probably not his holiday. He didn't really like the clamoring girls and seductive boys, and being bisexual, he had to deal with both. He really didn't like all the people clinging to him and shoving letter's in his face. And he really didn't like all the people declaring their love without any grounding.

Least of all, Aang disliked the fact that a certain year younger student who probably didn't even know who he was wasn't going to be one of his admirers today.

Aang Kazekama was an attractive sixteen year old boy, tattooed and pierced sure, but kind and generous. His outward appearance was more to ward off the cowardly who couldn't handle his dare devil ways, as his best friend Toph said. He had to agree. He may have looked tough but he was a big ol' puppy on the inside.

And, like most boys his age, Aang had a romantic interest. Only problem was that his romantic interest was, for one, younger than him, and for two, what Toph would call the jailbait of the school. Which was sort of true. If the boy wasn't proficient in over six different martial arts styles and on the judo team. And no thank you Aang is not a stalker, just very interested that's all.

Zuko Hihoshi was fifteen years old with pale skin and shaggy black hair that always looked just this side of bed-head and adorable. His eyes were bright gold and the scar on his face only made him that much more interesting and mysterious. He didn't smile much unless you saw him with his uncle or best friend Mai, and he had a fiery temper.

He was also a touch short for his age, not by much, maybe an inch, but it got him instantly thrown into the "submissive and cute" grouping upon first arriving at the school a year before. He had shown quickly that, cute, yes, short, yes, and a bit feminine looks wise sure, but he was so far from lay down and take it submissive it was a bit scary. How did he do that? Well it helped that he beat the entire karate team one after another without stopping.

Anyway. Point was that Zuko Hihoshi had quickly become Aang's fascination, and after working with him on a between grades science collaboration, his crush. The thing was that apart from the grade gap (and for any in high school, you'll know, grade gaps change a lot), they worked on two completely different wavelengths.

Zuko like martial arts, literature and writing novels. Aang liked aikido (that's Japanese staff fighting), art and laying under the sun for hours at a time. That didn't mean they wouldn't work well together, according to Katara, who was in several classes with him, they'd be like two peas in a pod. It just meant that at the moment, Aang didn't really have a reason to just walk up and say hi. Which sucked.

Especially today.

Aang sighed, flopping down under his favorite tree on the school grounds, crossing his arms behind his head. Thus far he had been "confessed" to six times and found a rather large amount of "love letters" in his locker. He'd put them in his bag, he was too nice to throw them out, and left without opening a single one. He wondered if he'd feel less bad about throwing them out once he got home or if he should give them to Toph again to dispose of her way.

Which he was pretty sure by shredding or incineration but he never really got the full story.

Fifteen minutes went by in relative silence, and he managed to doze off, before his phone rang. He ignored it the first three rings, but when the insistent fourth ring came, he sighed. Pretty much everyone knew that if he didn't pick up by the third ring, he wasn't going to. Only one person would keep trying, and that was Toph.

As he flipped it open, he was greeted by Toph's name in bright green on the message screen. He opened the text and raised an eyebrow at it.

'Head's up, heading your way. -Toph'

Aang stared at the message for a moment. Who was heading his way? Toph? Another admirer? Oh god he hoped not. But what if it was Katara or some-

"Uhm…Aang…?"

Aang's heart just about leapt out of his chest. His phone snapped shut instantly and he sat up straight, head swiveling around to look at none other than Zuko Hihoshi.

He stood there, school uniform neat as always, hair still ruffled looking and a soft flush on his cheeks. Aang took a moment to let his mind spaz out over how cute the younger boy was before responding.

"Yeah?" he said, voice curious, but even.

The flush worsened and Aang blinked, wondering what was embarrassing him so much.

"I…uh…I don't know if you remember me…" Zuko said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

"Course I do Zuko." Aang said with a grin. "You're hard to forget."

Actually, Aang had thought Zuko would forget HIM. Looks like he was wrong though, thank whatever god(s) was up there.

"Oh…uh…" Zuko bit his bottom lip and shifted his weight.

Aang watched him curiously, wondering what was wrong with the younger boy. He wondered sadly if he was being made to deliver one of his friend's love letters. That would suck.

"Look just…here."

Something dropped into his lap and Aang looked down. For a minute, he didn't register the box of chocolates until he saw the neatly written "to Aang" on the card on the front. He knew that handwriting (not a stalker shut up), it was Zuko's. And inside the card, a simple heart drawn in red sharpie and nothing else. Simple, sweet, and worth a million words.

Aang looked up at Zuko to find the underclassmen looking away, cheeks rose red, arms crossed over his stomach. He just stared at him for a moment before smiling softly. Zuko must have caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye as he turned his head. But then he yelped as Aang yanked him down into his lap and crushed their lips together.

He relaxed only when he felt slender fingers curling into his uniform jacket and a tentative pressure on his lips as his kiss was returned. Then Aang just gave up holding back and wrapped his arms fully around Zuko, not particularly caring who saw them.

Maybe Valentine's wasn't AS bad as he had thought…

* * *

><p><strong>Umbrella (by Rihanna)<strong>

Aang was never the loneliest child. He was known for attracting people, and he was always surrounded by those who admired and cared for him. But for as long as he could remember, there was one person who he had always enjoyed the company of most. And he didn't even know the boy's name.

It had happened one day when Aang was eight. He was walking home from school in the rain, umbrella over his head, humming to himself. It was a beautiful day in his opinion, but very wet. Then again, Aang could find the good in any situation, no matter how bad.

He had been walking down another street, when he noticed something. It was hard to see in the scarce light, and the flash of lightning was the only thing that allowed him to see it at all. For a moment, he was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him, but then there was another flash and sure enough…

Standing underneath the broken bus stop some five yards ahead of him was another boy. He was dressed in ragged jeans that looked as though they'd been though a grinder and a shirt two sizes too big for him. His backpack was slung over one shoulder, and was just as ratty as the other things he was wearing, but held together well enough. The shirt was the only source of warmth he seemed to have, arms crossed and shivering.

If Aang were another person, he would have said it was one of the most pathetic things he'd ever seen. But considering who he was, all he could think was that there had to be some way for him to help.

Which was why five minutes later, he found himself standing next to the other boy, holding his umbrella over both of their heads. The boy's head shot up, long black hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks, golden eyes wide in shock as Aang smiled at him.

"You can stand under my umbrella." he said softly, and the boy's eyes widened further.

For a moment he looked as though he might refuse, then smiled and nodded. He was older than Aang, if he had to make a guess, a year at least, and therefore taller, so he took the umbrella.

They ended up walking back to his house, mostly in silence, just enjoying the company of another person, laughing when they stepped in puddles, smiling at one another and just generally having a far better time than either of them had in a long while.

They reached the boy's house and he waved good bye, dashing up to his door and pulling out a key to open it. He looked over his shoulder one last time before he went in, smiling softly at Aang.

At the time Aang's young mind didn't find anything wrong with thinking that the older boy had to be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Years passed, two of them. One would expect such a coincidence never to happen again, a meeting of two people on chance never to be repeated. Yet every rainy day, Aang would rush to the bus stop, and there he would be, long hair plastered to his neck, soft smile on his lips.

Pretty soon, it stopped being just the rainy days. The rainy season ended, and Aang was walking home, kicking a can, sad that he would no longer get to share an umbrella with the long haired boy. And then, as he passed the bus stop, a hand slipped into his and he turned to find the same shy smile he'd come to love. This time the boy's hair was dry, pulled into a ponytail like usual but long and sleek.

Aang had grinned at him and they had walked home hand in hand, laughing and smiling like always.

For two years, almost every day, Aang could count on seeing the beautiful boy and walking beside him. The year he got his tattoos, the boy spent the entire walk home asking him about the importance of the blue arrows forever emblazoned on his skin. And a few months later when the boy showed up with pierced ears, he was more than happy to explain the family tradition to Aang.

Two years passed, and Aang could barely wait to walk home every day. Gyatso noticed his sudden love for taking his time walking home and getting to school early, and his friends noticed that he no longer came with them place after school. But none of them learned his secret, those long minutes, just half an hour each day, spent walking home with a boy he didn't even know.

And then one day, he was just gone.

Aang was confused, and he walked to the boy's house, wondering if he was sick, only to find a "For Sale" sign outside. There was a man, driving the picket into the ground, and he asked about the family that had lived there.

"Just up and left." he said. "Their boy put up a right fight about it, didn't want to leave at all. Gave me this, said it was for the boy with the umbrella, whatever that means."

"That's me!" Aang said quickly.

The man handed over an envelope, and Aang opened it hastily, pulling out the sheet of paper inside. It wasn't much, and looked as though it had been scribbled hastily, but it made Aang's heart soar anyway.

It read; 'I'm sorry I didn't get to say good bye. Please don't be mad. I hope we see each other again.'

Years have passed. Seven of them. Aang has lived happily, mostly, but he still can't help feeling a little empty every time he walks by the bus stop. He's made new friends and he's lost old ones, but no matter what that damned piece of paper sits on his bedside table, never collecting dust because he rereads it every night.

Some people just meet and are never meant to be apart. This is what has happened to Aang, and even though he doesn't know the boy's name, he wants more than anything to see him again. He just doesn't think he's ever going to get the chance.

It is the year that Aang is sixteen, he's walking home in the rain. He doesn't bother with an umbrella anymore, not since that boy. He doesn't want anyone else standing under it with him. The storm gets worse and he stops under the dilapidated old bus stop, catching the irony as he stands as that boy once did, arms crossed, hidden away in the rain.

He's ready to stand there for hours if he must, waiting for the rain to end… When suddenly it stops. He can see it falling, but none of it is landing on him anymore. And his head snaps around and his breath catches in his throat.

He's got the same golden eyes, and the same soft smile. His hair is shoulder length and shaggy now, but it still looks the same silky soft it always did. Those amber tear drops are still his earrings, and his skin is the same pale. His coat, a black trench, fits him better than his old clothes did, and there's a scar, a horrible scar Aang doesn't want to think about how he go.

But it's him.

It's him, and this time he's holding the umbrella, and he doesn't need to say it for Aang, taller now, to take the handle and hold it above them. They don't need to say a word as the boy interlocks their fingers, holding Aang's hand like he always used to. They start to walk again, and this time, Aang is sure he's not going to be letting the boy's hand go.

* * *

><p><strong>Not as bad…<strong>

Zuko woke to another loud crash of thunder and growled under his breath. For the love of all things even remotely holy, this was absolutely the most infuriating thing in the world.

He pushed himself up in bed, blanket falling to pool around his hips, revealing his bare chest. A flash of lighting cut through the night sky and he sighed, slipping out of bed. He wore a pair of loose fitting drawstring pants and nothing else, riding low to reveal his hipbones as he walked over to the window to close the curtains.

His hair had grown longer over the past year, now falling to his waist and losing some of its shagginess. He was glad for it too, as soon it would be long enough to be the straight silky hair he recalled from his childhood, though Aang said he'd miss the flippiness a bit. Other than his hair, Zuko hadn't changed much appearance wise. He was still sleek and slender, all trim waist and curves to the outside observer, though when it came down to it he had plenty of muscle.

Zuko would openly admit he looked rather feminine, and honestly didn't mind as everyone seemed to compare him to his mother. If he looked like his mother, well, there was nothing to complain about there, she'd been drop dead gorgeous.

Zuko reached the window and stared out at the storm, glared more like, sighing to himself. Rain was wonderful and all, he loved the rain, a good storm always cleared his thoughts, but honestly. A monsoon every two weeks was NOT something he enjoyed, as it made everything flood and everything very cold.

He shut the curtains with another sigh, hoping to block out the thunder and howling winds at least a little.

*Why do I live here again?* he thought tiredly.

The abbey was beautiful sure, but holy hell was the weather weird on the coast. One minute it was sunny, the next it was like this outside. Everyone seemed used to it, and so was he after a year, but that didn't mean he liked it at all. One really had to question why he bothered staying here.

"Mm…Zuko?" there was the sound of shuffling cloth and then; "What are you doing out of bed…?"

Zuko looked over his shoulder to see his lover, resting on his elbows, looking at him in his half-asleep daze. Aang yawned, rubbing his eyes before looking at Zuko again, a little more awake this time.

"It's way too early to be up love, come back to bed." he said gently.

Zuko smiled softly, letting go of his vice grip on the curtains and slipping back over to their bed and under the covers. The moment the blankets landed over his shoulder, Aang was pulling him close and snuggling him. Zuko would have laughed had he not been returning the soft kisses and nuzzles he was being given by his affectionate lover. Instead, he purred like a contented cat and basked in the loving gestures.

"You know if the storm was bothering you, you could have woken me darling." Aang murmured.

It was only because he too was half asleep that Zuko didn't snap at him for calling him such sugar coated pet names. He really liked them, he just acted like he didn't to maintain his image.

"It was just keeping me up." he mumbled. "No big deal."

"'S a big deal if I don't have my kitten here next to me. The bed is very cold without you."

Zuko flushed, and in retaliation to the sheer amount of sugary sweetness coating his lover's words, nipped his neck.

"Ouch! Hey…Okay, okay, point taken…Kitten has fangs…"

"And claws." Zuko teased.

Aang chuckled and pulled Zuko even closer. Zuko didn't complain, tucking his head underneath Aang's chin and snuggling closer to his lover, who was quite warm in his own right. Aang let out a happy sigh as they both relaxed, the sounds of the storm dulled down enough to not keep them awake any longer.

*Okay. So this is why I deal with it.* Zuko amended in his mind. *The weather's not as bad as being without Aang would be.*

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

Smile-

Just kinda something that struck me while RPing with cerise_otaku on LJ (Jade258 for all you people). Our RP can get super emotional (don't get me started) and Aang's smiles play a huge part in the emotional drama of it all. So my brain made me write this.

Damsel in Distress-  
>Okay this one I can safely blame on DarthAnimus (And she has the same username everywhere and if you don't know who she is YOU PHAIL). We were talking about...stuff...and somehow Zuko's masculinity came up and we decided that while her Zuko is very kickass...he's also quite girly. ...And yeah.<p>

Cliché-  
>Do I REEEEEEEALLY need to explain this? This was like...Kratos (LamiaDorian on dA) Sini (DarthAnimus) and Aimen (Jade258) all at once...evil evil influential women...<p>

Umbrella (by Rihanna)-  
>Okay. I have no one to blame but myself on this one. I was foolish enough to be music-less and so I grabbed the first thing on YouTube that looked appealing. ...And...uh...haha...yeah?<p>

Not as bad...-  
>...I reeeeally wanted to continue the Damsel in Distress-verse. I'm so tempted to make a series of one-shots out of it... DAMN YOU SINI! D:<p>

...

So.

Lots of fluff and not much else?

Glad we're on the same page.


End file.
